Different types of files can be malicious, and can be referred to as “malware.” Such malicious files can include, for example, certain operating codes, or “opcodes,” which can be embedded within executable files for use in operating systems such as MICROSOFT WINDOWS, APPLE MAC OS, LINUX, UNIX, ANDROID, or APPLE iOS, or within other types of files, such as MICROSOFT WORD documents or ADOBE PDFs. Malicious files can cause software errors in the operating system or other programs operating on a device, can steal financial and/or identification information of a user, and/or cause a host of other problems.
Security software has been developed for detecting malicious files. For example, when a user attempts to open or use a file, some security software can compare that file to each of a variety of known malicious files, and if a match is found indicating the file is malicious, can take corrective action, such as preventing the user from opening or using the file so as to inhibit execution of code within that file and alerting the user as to the malicious nature of the file. However, in such security software, the malicious file must be known a priori, and the file the user is attempting to open or use must exactly match the known malicious file for corrective action to be taken.